Modern Japan is well known for its fascination with all things robotic. This is rooted deep in their history, when they used clockwork puppets called the Karakuri Ninyao to play out folk stories during religious festivals. Like their preoccupation with robots, the Japanese are well known for their contributions to science fiction. Famous science fiction…
Tag: Anime
JapanPowered isn’t just about anime (even if the bulk of it is). You can find all different types of anime in this section.
Space Dandy – It was a Dandy of a Ride, Baby
Space Dandy, like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo before, is genre to itself. It plays with and breaks themes found in scifi and anime. The series lacked a cohesive plot, and it was sporadic at times. Yet, some episodes were the stuff of legend. Other episodes were the stuff of meh. Where Cowboy Bebop was episodic, but Space Dandy…
Pokemon: A History of Friendship and Controversy
Pokemon proved itself more than a fad. Back in 1999, at the height of popularity, Pokemania caused parents to fear for their children. Pokemon was an odd mix of good moral principles like friendship and compassion with acquisitiveness. Gotta catch ’em all! (Chua-Eaon, 1999; Kehoe, 2000). The fears of parents had little to do with…
Kill la Kill – Exploring our Relationships with Clothing?
I was hesitant toward Kill la Kill when I first started watching it. First, the style of the humor tends to turn me off. The obsession with frantic humor is something I cannot understand. Next, the level of fan service turned me off. The skimpy uniforms and creepy come-ons by the teacher Aikuro Mikisugi toward…
Beyond the Boundary
The sword of blood burns as it slides into Akihito, acid. His cry rends the air and swirls the pink hair of his assailant. His chest rises and falls against the blade as he looks at the large, open eyes of the girl that skewered him. He smiles and says, “Be-speckled beauty.” Beyond the Boundary…
Legend of the Legendary Heroes
Every so often I come across an anime that I just can’t finish. Sometimes the anime is too violent for my taste; other times it is too silly (read: obnoxious). Legend of the Legendary Heroes couldn’t hold my attention. The title is slightly redundant too. Legendary Heroes had some interesting things going for it. The…